Fort Lauderdale woman gets two years for ID theft

Altan Melissa Erskine, Shanna Johnson guilty of data theft

December 19, 2012|By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

A 41-year-old Fort Lauderdale woman was sentenced on Tuesday for her role in an identity theft scheme, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer announced.

Altan Melissa Erskine got two years in federal prison plus one year probation for plotting with co-defendant Shanna Johnson, who worked at First Data Merchant and obtained personal information from unwitting victims in the company's database, prosecutors said.

Both Erskine and Johnson pleaded guilty to the charges.

The scheme unraveled after Erskine met with a confidential informant in March to discuss filing for fraudulent income tax refunds. She said Johnson could get a person's Social Security number, date of birth, and driver's license information for $150, according to court documents.

First Data's Corporate Security Department identified Johnson as the employee who tapped into the system and arrests were made, prosecutors said.

Johnson was sentenced in August to two years in prison and one year probation.